The Legend of Smiling Jack
by Findel
Summary: Darker fic. Lina moves to the town of Atlas City where she is an english teacher. Halloween is approaching and Lina learns of a town legend called Smiling Jack. What happens when she discovers she is living in his house and why is the town so afraid?
1. New Home

**The Legend of Smiling Jack**

**Chapter: 1**

**New Home**

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A new fic I got from listening to music. Wish I had heard this back towards Halloween but oh well.

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Lina smiled as she walked down the hall of Atlas High School. She had begun teaching at the high school for a few months after she had moved to the small town for a new start. She had had a life in the city with a teaching job and a boyfriend. But, that all came to an end when she had discovered that her blonde boyfriend had been seeing another woman behind her back. Well, Lina packed up and moved out into the country and into the town of Atlas City. She had found a nice sized Victorian house for quite cheap. She still did not understand why she had received the large piece of property like it was nothing but she was not one to question a good thing. The house had been in disrepair but a few weeks later Lina had restored it to its former glory.

Lina walked into her class and moved to the front. The morning gossip had already begun. Different rumors about who was dating who as well as if there was a party the upcoming weekend. It was a week and a half before Halloween and the school was abuzz about different activities that would be held on the most unholy of nights. Lina called the class to attention when the bell rang and asked, "Well, since this is a literature class and it is getting close to Halloween, I thought we would begin looking at some scary stories for the next week and a half. Does anyone have a favorite they would like to talk about?"

There were some replies here and there but they were the usual fare. It was at this moment from the back of the class came, "What about the Legend of Smiling Jack?"

The whole class went disturbingly quiet as Lina looked to see who had put it forth. It was a young man by the name of Zarius Metallium. Zarius was a young boy of about sixteen years of age and looked to be an exact duplicate of his father. He had violet hair that came down to his shoulders and violet eyes that showed the young man's intelligence as well as a mischievous side. The young man was a son of the well known Xellos Metallium. Zarius was known for his pranks and his not wanting to fit in with the rich crowd that he was technically a part of because of his birth name. Lina smiled before saying, "I've never heard of that story. Where is it from?"

Zarius smiled before saying, "It's from Atlas. All these morons get quiet because Smiling Jack is this town's boogey man."

A student by the name of Amelia turned and said, "Your not supposed to talk about him. Besides, what will Miss Lina think about this town?"

Lina blinked as she could tell that most of the class was in agreement with Amelia and they did not want to speak of this figure in the legend. Where they really that scared of this legend or was it just their parents had drilled it into them that talking about the legend was bad for the town? Lina looked back over to Zarius and asked, "Well, I'm new here. Could you outline what the legend is about?"

Zarius smiled as he knew he was making the whole class nervous before saying, "About thirty years ago there was a man in this town that was very rich and well known. He lived in the big house on the hill and seemed to be a normal person. But, people began to disappear. Later, bodies began to turn up...the people had been butchered to the point that only pieces were found. But, these piece were always parts to identify the victim. As it began to get worse the police began to find letters written in the blood of the victims taunting them at the scene where the body parts were found. All of these letters were signed, 'Smiling Jack,' and after a while the police brought in a handwriting expert in to work with them. The expert had everyone in town write a letter to compare the others to and the handwriting matched the man's that lived on top of the hill. Though there was a match that was not enough to bring the man to justice...so the...richer...townsfolk walked up to the house and dragged the man out. They took the man to the cemetery were they threw a rope over an old tree and used it to hang the man. After his death the murders stopped and peace was restored...though they say that, 'Smiling Jack,' promised revenge before he drew his last breath."

Lina gulped slightly when she realized that the house in question was the one she lived in. 'Well, that would explain the cheap price,' she thought before replying, "That is an interesting story Zarius."

Lina could see that the whole class was still in an uproar about the telling of the local legend. She smiled before saying, "Are there any other stories that people like?"

A few more were given before Lina noticed it was almost time for a class change. "Okay, I'll get copies of these stories and we'll go over them in class."

The bell rang and the students gathered their books up and headed out the door. It was within a few seconds Lina heard a scream from the hallway. Lina ran outside into the hall to find a few of the female students freaking out and looking at the wall with a look of abject horror on their faces. She turned to see that something was written on the lockers. There on the lockers in red was written, "They called me the leather apron, They called me Smiling Jack."

Lina grumbled as she helped the students to their feet before saying, "Look, it's just someone's idea of a joke...someone like Zarius," before looking the young man's way.

Zarius acted none the wiser but Lina knew the timing was too much of a coincidence to be a random joke. Zarius was known for his off color jokes and his bad humor but Lina had no way to prove it was the young Metallium. Lina hurried the students to their next class before going and finding the janitor to clean the mess up.

* * *

It was four-thirty in the afternoon and Lina had stopped by the town records on her way home. She in general would have asked about the town history if she wanted to know something, but the way her students had acted made her sure it was better to look it up herself. After pouring over records she finally found the list of owners of her house. After a while she found that it was the family home of a family by the name of Greywords. This family had held very high regard in the town and had many rich and well known owners. Then when Lina came to the correct time period she found the name had been marked over so that it could not be read. After this owner there had been no others until her but the tampering of the records did not sit well with her. Lina put the records back up and headed out while thinking, 'I need to find a way of finding out who owned that house.'

* * *

Lina had returned home and for the first time since she had moved to the town of Atlas she felt uneasy in her own home. She jumped at every creak the old wood boards made as she moved through the house. She could not help but fidget as she sat in front of a roaring fire in the living room. The house seemed darker than it did before as the story continued to run through her head. The large curtains swayed slightly as slight movements of air caught within them. Lina watched them as if expecting to see a ghost but knew better. 'It's just a legend Lina.'

The house began to creak as it started to settle for the night. Lina fidgeted even more as the creaks and groans seemed to get louder as cold air began to seep into the foundation. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to worry about but the story seemed to hit a little closer to home when the supposed murderer had lived in your house. "I just need to claim myself. Even if there was a murdering psycho that lived here that just means he lived here. He's dead and not coming back that isn't possible," Lina said out loud to herself.

Lina got up and walked to the kitchen where she made herself a cup of hot tea. She then moved back to her chair in the living room and took a sip of the tea. The warmth seemed to soothe Lina's nerves as she began to claim down. 'There,' she thought, 'I just need to not worry...its just a story and that's all.'

After, Lina finished her tea, she placed the cup into the sink and made her way up the stairs to her bed room. She had redone the entire house herself when she had moved in. The hallways were all wood flooring made of a nice rosewood paneling. The rooms were done in a light burgundy carpet that was fluffy and soft on the feet. The second floor matched the top with the wood paneled hallways and the carpeted rooms. Lina came to the top of the stairs and turned to her left. She made her way to the very back of the second floor where the master bedroom was. The bed that Lina had bought matched the carpet. It was a four poster bed with light burgundy shades on three sides. Lina smiled at the bed fore she stripped down to nothing but her underwear. Lina then crawled under her covers before reaching over and setting her alarm. She then rolled over onto her side before snuggling into her pillow and thinking, 'It doesn't matter if he slept in this room. All that matters is this is my home now...and no one can change it.'

With that Lina drifted off to sleep with confidence that the legend of Smiling Jack was just a piece of history for the town and that was it.

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Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from **The Slayers** do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

Feedback is requested, please send all comments to size=1 width=100% noshade> 


	2. Connections

**The Legend of Smiling Jack**

**Chapter: 2**

**Connections**

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Time to continue the fun

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Lina sighed as she walked down the street. It had be three days and she had not found anything new about the former owner of the house. All the records that she was able to find had been tampered with to the point that it was no use to continue. Since it was Sunday and there was no class until tomorrow Lina had turned her search to her last idea. Lina knew she had only one option left open to her and she was on her way to meet with him. 'The Metallium family is one of the oldest families in the town. If anyone would know about the former owners of the house that would be Xellos Metallium himself,' Lina thought as she made her way up to the large house on the other side of town from her home.

It was an odd thing that the homes of the two oldest families in the town were on opposite ends of the valley that was Atlas City. The Greywords home was on a hill on the eastern side of the valley and the Metallium home was on a hill on the western side of the valley. In between the two older Victorian homes were many nuevo rich homes that dotted the valley. Then there were the small mom and pop stores that supported the community on the main road that Lina was walking down. The community was build around serving those in the money and that's what made it prosper. The school that Lina taught at was a public high school but the salaries of the teaching staff were much higher than in other areas. Again, it was all to serve the rich and their children that flaunted their money. All that is except for the Metallium family. Lina had first heard of them when she was hired as a teacher. The Metallium family was the only old rich family in the town. They were the supposed founders of Atlas City. In fact it was Xellos, the head of the board of education for the town, that had hired Lina. 'I guess I owe him that much,' Lina thought as she continued to walk down the street.

After another twenty minutes Lina had made it to the large double doors of the Metallium estate and pushed the button to ring the doorbell. The bell rang with the eerie tone of Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Bach. Most people would simply label it as, 'The Dracula Theme,' but Lina knew better.

A moment later the door opened and Lina was met with an elderly looking butler that looked her over before saying in a stuffy accent, "Yes?"

Lina smiled before replying, "Hi, My name is Lina Inverse and I would like to speak with Mr. Xellos Metallium, please."

The butler nodded before saying in the same accent, "This way please."

Lina followed the butler inside and to a study room were she stood as the butler announced, "A Miss Inverse to see you Sir."

Lina looked to the desk to see a newspaper being held in front of the man behind the desk. The newspaper lowered to reveal the father of Zarius and the owner of the home Xellos Metallium. Xellos Metallium was said to be in his sixties but the man in front of Lina did not look a day over thirty. Whatever secret Xellos had for keeping himself looking years younger; Lina was sure that he could double his family's fortune twice over. Xellos' hair was purple and long to the point that it came down to his shoulders. His eyes matched his hair color as well. Father and son looked like carbon copies of each other to Lina's eyes. Xellos smiled before saying, "That's all Harrison. Please go about your business."

"As you wish Sir," the butler replied before leaving the room.

After the butler left Xellos turned to Lina and smiled before saying, "Miss Inverse this is a surprise. Please do have a seat."

Lina took the chair that was next to her before Xellos continued, "Now, how can I be of service? Has my boy been giving you trouble?"

Lina smirked slightly at that before saying, "No, that's not why I'm here. I've become interested in the house I'm living in and I can't really find anything in the records other than it belonged to a family by the name Greywords. I was thinking that maybe you would know more about the house."

Xellos' smile dropped a bit before he asked, "Why are you so interested in the Greywords' history?"

Lina shrugged before saying, "Well, I had been talking about ghost stories and legends in my class because it is so close to Halloween...," before she was cut off.

"Oh, Halloween it is one of the best times of the year," Xellos proclaimed brightly, "Especially, this Halloween. Did you know that the planets are set to align this Halloween at midnight?"

Lina looked at Xellos a bit oddly. She had heard that the man was rather eccentric but the last comment was out of left field. She coughed before replying, "No, I didn't. Are you an astronomer Mr. Metallium?"

Xellos smiled before saying, "Xellos, please. Mr. Metallium makes me feel old. But, I do dabble with looking at the stars. Its something to do to keep my mind occupied."

"But, don't you have a lot of social obligations," Lina asked somewhat curious.

Xellos sighed while standing from his chair. He walked to the large window looking out onto the town and motioned for Lina to join him. Once Lina was next to him Xellos said, "Tell me what do you see?"

"I see a town," Lina replied while looking at Xellos.

Xellos smirked before saying, "I don't. I see foolish people that call themselves a community. Not an ounce of knowledge in any of them. All of those nuevo rich fools and their spoiled children running around like they own the place. Oh, if Zelgadis could only see this place know."

Lina quickly looked at Xellos before asking, "Who's Zelgadis?"

Xellos' smile widened as he said, "Well, it appears I've let Jack out of the bag now haven't I."

Lina backed up at the mention of the name Jack because she now knew the name she had been looking for, "He's Smiling Jack...Zelgadis Greywords was his real name!"

Xellos mock clapped before saying, "Yes, Zelgadis Greywords was the only person I saw as an equal in this town. His family was from the same class as mine and he was a very intelligent man as well. Too bad he was a murderer."

Lina looked at Xellos as the word, 'murderer,' had come out with an odd inflection of his voice. "Do you know something?"

Xellos smirked before asking, "Do you know why they are so scared of that name?"

Lina shook her head before following Xellos as he went to a side door. The door lead to a small room with a pedestal that had a glass covering on top. "When they hung dear Zelgadis for the murders they then pillaged his home. They found this on his desk. The fools were going to burn it but I was able to save it from the flame," Xellos replied as he motioned for Lina to have a look.

Under the glass was a tattered piece of paper that had a poem written on it:

_They called me the Leather Apron  
They called me Smiling Jack  
They prayed to the heavens above  
That I would never ever come back_

Can you hear how the children weep?  
Chills of fear like a sawblade cutting deep...

Once again there is pain, I bring flames, I bring cold  
I'm the Blood Red Sandman coming home  
On this unholy night I will make you my own  
Blood Red Sandman coming home again  
I'm coming home again!

Red drops stain satin so white  
The way I sign my name  
The neighborhood's pretty dead at night  
And I'm the one to blame

Can you hear how the children weep?  
Chills of fear like a sawblade cutting deep...

Once again there is pain, I bring flames, I bring cold  
I'm the Blood Red Sandman coming home  
On this unholy night I will make you my own  
Blood Red Sandman coming home again  
I'm coming home again!

Lina backed away from it quickly before saying, "He had to be insane! There's no way to come back from the dead."

"Maybe," Xellos replied, "But, it was said that the Greywords were masters of the occult. If anyone could come back it would be Zelly-Boy."

Lina turned and began to walk away. She did not like the feeling she was getting in her gut and decided that now was a good idea to take her leave. "Oh, Miss Inverse!"

Lina stopped as Xellos' voice called after her. She turned and listened as Xellos said, "There are always two sides to every story. You have heard their side...now you must find his."

* * *

Lina huffed as she wiped the sweat from her brow. She had returned home after meeting with Xellos and began her search. The library held many books but none with anything about the family or Zelgadis Greywords. She continued to look in the attic and found many family portrait that had been stowed away but none of them were of Zelgadis. 'It's like the town wants all memory of him erased,' Lina thought as she was going down the stairs to the wine cellar.

The old cellar had not been used in ages and cobwebs hung from any open space. Lina had brought a broom just in case and began to attack the webs with reckless abandon. After a while she had cleared out a path for her to walk without getting webs all over her. The small light above was dim and made it hard to see much other than the racks of old wine that she was sure had turned to vinegar by now. Lina began to look around to see if maybe someone had hidden something down in the cellar but all that seemed to be there was a bunch of old, dusty bottles of wine. Lina turned around and was about to walk out when she noticed one of the bottles had less dust on it then the rest. 'It seem rather new in comparison,' she thought as she grabbed the bottle.

Lina pulled the bottle to hear a snap behind it in the rack. She stopped for a second before putting the bottle back. To her surprise the rack and the wall began to swing back like they were on hinges. Lina pushed against the wall until it gave way and sent her falling to the floor. Her landing kicked up a lot of dust and caused Lina to coughed and sneeze for a few minutes before the last of the vile material was out of the air. Lina rubbed her eyes to clear them. Lina opened her eyes to be met with a small cardboard box with, "To Whom It May Concern," written on the top.

Lina grabbed the box as she smiled like a devil. "Finally, I'll get down to the bottom of this," she said to herself as she climbed the stairs back to the house.

* * *

Lina sat in her normal lounge chair with a bottle of wine and a half full glass on the stand next to the chair. She had found a bottle of wine in the cellar that was actually still good. Lina opened the top to the box and found only two items inside. The first was what looked to be a leather bound journal and the second was a picture frame. Lina blew the dust off of the frame and stopped as she looked at the man in the picture. He was tall and lithe with sapphire blue eyes. His skin was pale, very pale. It looked like he did not spend any time in the sun at all. His blue hair shot out on either side of his head in a wing shape and a piece of his hair hung in front of his right eye. 'Not to bad looking,' Lina thought as she took a sip of wine, 'If he got some sun he would have looked very attractive.'

Lina put the picture down and turned to the journal. She blew the dust of the journal as well before opening to the first page. On the first page was written a short message to no one in particular, "To Whom it May Concern, My name is Zelgadis Greywords and this journal is a record of events that will lead up to my undoing. If you are familiar with the town story of Smiling Jack then let it be known that name was given to me by the townspeople. I am not the murderer in question. I know that this might be hard to take but please read the journal and hear me out. I will show you how this legend came about and clear my name at least in your eyes."

Lina's eyes opened wide at the message written in very neat handwriting. 'Xellos did say there are two sides to every story...but how do I know he didn't just leave this as a joke,' Lina asked herself.

She shrugged before turning the page and reading the next part of the journal. "I see you have decided to continue reading. Well, let me tell you a bit about myself seeing as how I'm sure the town has erased my name from it. I am Zelgadis Greywords the former owner of this estate and that of the Greywords name. I was born with a condition called photosensitivity. My case of the condition is a rare form of the ailment that causes extreme breakouts if I am exposed to sunlight. I was some what of a recluse because of this condition. I would normally only go outside at night or in heavy clothing that covered all of my body. The townspeople that did not know about my condition I'm sure saw this as strange and made me the perfect target in the Smiling Jack Investigation."

Lina nodded to herself. She had heard about the condition and that it was also called, 'Sun Allergy.' Meaning the patient displayed reactions to sunlight as if they were allergic to it. The person would burn very easily, break out in rashes, and in general have a hell of a time if the sun touched there skin. She could see how this would make a person seem weird in the eyes of people that were not informed about the rare condition. 'But, that still doesn't prove that he wasn't Smiling Jack,' Lina thought to herself.

She was about to turn the page when the clock on the wall rang out that it was midnight. Lina had jumped slightly at the sound but sighed before saying, "Get a grip Lina."

Lina closed the journal and held it and the picture under her right arm before finishing off what was left in her glass. She then stood and walked to the kitchen and cleaned the glass out. Lina then walked up the stairs to her bedroom. She set the journal on her nightstand with the picture frame set on top of the journal. She then threw her clothes in the hamper and climbed into bed. Lina snuggled into her pillow and sighed as she said, "Goodnight Zelgadis."

Lina turned away from the picture and closed her eyes. As she began to drift off into the land of dreams the eyes of Zelgadis Greywords lit up red and then went dormant once again.

* * *

A/N: The song: **Blood Red Sandman** Is owned and performed by, **Lordi**

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from **The Slayers** do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

Feedback is requested, please send all comments to size=1 width=100% noshade> 


	3. The Coming of All Hallows Eve

**The Legend of Smiling Jack**

**Chapter: 3**

**Coming of All Hallows Eve**

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Continuing on with our story.

Yep, what can I say I like to dabble in darker things...I've done a lot of fluff and angst so it is nice to do something that is on the other end of the spectrum every once in a while.

* * *

Monday had arrived and Lina was back at work. She had to shelf her search until after the day was over. The last thing that was needed would be a distracted teacher. Lina walked into her first class and smiled as the bell rang. "Well, I choose the top story to go over today. We will be looking at The Legend of Sleepy Hallow."

Lina began to pass out a bunch of printed handouts she had made of the story. As she got to Zarius' desk she heard him say, "Going with something safe I see."

Lina smirked as she laid the handout down on his desk before replying, "If you want to obsess over your boogey man be my guest but the rest of us are going to continue with class."

Zarius just shrugged as he picked up his handout and waited for Lina to begin the class. After Lina had finished handing out the story she returned to the front of the class and began to read the first paragraph as the class listened.

* * *

It was lunch time which was one of Lina's favorite times of the day. She walked towards the teacher's lounge with her large lunch sack over her shoulder. Lina walked into the teacher's lounge and sat down at the first available seat and lifted her heavy sack onto the table. Lina opened the sack and pulled out a few sandwiches that she had made in the morning before coming to work. As Lina ate another teacher came and sat down across from her. "Well, you always have quite the appetite don't you, Miss Lina," came the voice Sylphiel Nas Rada.

Lina looked up and replied, "You know it," before attacking another sandwich.

Sylphiel Nas Rada was a low speaking, and somewhat shy home arts teacher. She was about as tall as Lina with long purple hair and vibrant green eyes. Sylphiel was everyone's friend in the faculty and staff of the school as she was the nicest person that could be found in the town. As the two friends began their small talk another teacher came into the room and eyeballed Lina's lunch sack like a hungry wolf. Lina quickly grabbed the sack and glared at the man before saying, "Gourry, go get your own food!"

Gourry Gabriev was a tall, strong man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was the gym teacher at the school and like Lina had a never ending stomach. Gourry frowned before saying, "But, Lina you have a lot of food. Surely, you can spare some."

Lina growled before moving the bag away and saying, "If you aren't going to pack your own lunch then why don't you get Sylphiel to make you one...I'm sure she wouldn't say no."

Sylphiel blushed at Lina's statement before whispering, "I...I wouldn't mind."

Lina was about to make a comment when another voice came into the conversation. "So Inverse, I heard you visited the old Metallium the other day. You performing special favor to get a raise," came the voice of Lina's nemesis in the faculty called Martina.

Lina turned and glared at the other English teacher before returning, "No, Martina. We all know that's your job because that's the only way you can stay in this school."

Both teacher glared at each other before Sylphiel stood in-between the two and said, "Come on you two don't fight."

Martina smirked and walked away before saying, "Looks like your saved by the little pacifist again Lina."

Lina grumbled before tearing back into her lunch to control her want to rip Martina to shreds. After a moment had passed Sylphiel turned to Lina and asked, "Why did you go see Mr. Metallium?"

Lina swallowed the last bite of her sandwich hard while thinking, 'I should have known. Sylphiel's no fool and knows that I wouldn't go see Xellos just to be social.."

Lina laughed for a second before replying, "Oh, no reason. Just doing some town research," while thinking, 'I dare not say his name or the room with be in an uproar.'

Sylphiel smiled before saying, "That's good. You're new to area so its good to see you take interest in the town."

Lina sighed with relief before going back to her food before the lunch period was over.

* * *

Lina was finally home as the day had come to an end. She had gone upstairs and retrieved the journal from her nightstand before she began to cook dinner. While cooking Lina placed the journal on a stand and began to read the journal from where she left off. "Well I believe I have given you a decent explanation of myself and now I need to move on. The killer known as Smiling Jack is a very methodical and clean killer. What I mean by this is he strike quickly and doesn't leave evidence. As well, he only leaves certain pieces of the body. Enough to identify who was killed but other than that nothing is found."

Lina turned the page and continued to read as she stirred her food in the skillet. "This level of planning while intelligent still shows flaws especially when it comes down to the killer writing letters. This gives a direct piece of evidence to the police as to the killer through hand writing analysis. Again, though this part would also spell my downfall. The townspeople would see this killer as highly intelligent and a man that is confident in his ability to not be caught. Any of the town that know of me probably see me in this light. Though not too terribly social I do have a position on the town council and have spoke at length on many subjects. This was enough to show the other members of the council of my intelligence. As well I'm sure a lot of people think that I am the type of person that thinks he can get away with anything. No one truly knows me but they see me as an old money blue blood."

Lina plated her food and brought it to the table and began to eat. While she ate Lina continued to read the journal. "It is true that there are only two old money families in this valley but that does not mean we are spoiled. I and the head of the Metallium family, Xellos see it as our job to keep the valley as it has been. We are a pain in the side of certain people in the council because any ideas that would change things for the middle class we will fight tooth and nail to get rid of it. It is not the job of the rich to rule over their middle class neighbors but to help them to the best of your abilities."

Lina cocked an eye at the admission as it was a rare stance to be taken up by a rich person. 'Rather progressive if nothing else...but that still doesn't clear him of guilt,' Lina thought as she took a bite of food.

Lina flipped the page as she continued to read on. "Let me begin to point out some other motives behind Smiling Jack. As Xellos and I are the two oldest families in the valley we have a sway in the city council. A lot of the nuevo rich wanted to bring in bargain stores and strip malls and turn the valley into a shoppers paradise. Well, Xellos and I blocked the motion because we preferred that the shops remain in the hands of the families in the area. Well this tactic did not win us many friends. Another problem the nuevo rich had with us was that we supported a fully integrated school system while they wanted to build a private school. Again, Xellos and I blocked the motions and they failed. None of this won us fans amongst the nuevo rich. I suspect that this is what set up the events in the Smiling Jack investigation that caused my death."

Lina gulped hard before thinking, 'Well I can see that there was animosity between people here but that would not lead them to kill Zelgadis would it?'

Lina continued to read, "Combine these motives with the fact that I seemed odd to them because of the constraints of my condition and you have a setup for a perfect scapegoat. Now, all you need to add to this equation of murder is a catalyst that will set the whole powder keg off. This single match was the murderer Smiling Jack. The murders began in the summer and were all targeted at middle class workers. This would tend to point out that the murder was more than likely of the same class but that's not how some people saw it. The nuevo rich started to think that it was a rich person that was doing this to get rid of the middle class. I'm sure they were very happy behind closed doors but that soon all changed when the four victim...or should I say a piece of the fourth victim was found. Angela Vern was the daughter of a nuevo rich family that lived to the side of the Metallium estate. She had gone missing one night and then a week later her hand was found in a dumpster with a note attached to it. This was the first note written by Smiling Jack."

Lina cocked an eye at this fact and wondered, 'Why would he wait until he started preying on the rich to write a note?'

Lina flipped the page and read on, "If you are asking why the killer waited until now to taunt the town then you reached the same question I did. I could not figure out if the killer had finally become confident or if he had been waiting for this moment. Whatever the reason it stirred the town into an uproar and they brought in outside help. They have begun to gather writing samples from everyone to proof against the notes. But, it was soon after I realized what the killer was up to. He wanted the town in an uproar, he wanted the outside help, and it was working. Jack had used the first three middle class victims to hone his craft. He knew the rich would not care and thus there would be less attention focused on him. It was once he was confident that he went after the real target...the rich."

'It must be a middle class person then. They would be most likely to take frustrations out on the rich,' Lina thought.

"At first I thought that the killer would be a middle class resident of Atlas but as I continued to investigate the crimes I was pointed in another direction. One of the rich was doing this to their own...and I could not figure out who," Lina read before the clock struck eleven at night.

Lina yawned before walking towards her bedroom. She changed into her night gown while thinking, 'Who could it have been and why?'

After changing Lina crawled under her blankets and snuggled into her pillow. She sighed before looking at the picture and saying, "Too bad you died...you could've written one hell of a book from this."

Lina tossed before sighing and closing her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep the eyes of Zelgadis Greywords illuminated red for a moment before slowly draining back to their normal blue.

* * *

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from **The Slayers** do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

Feedback is requested, please send all comments to size=1 width=100% noshade> 


	4. The Sword of Damocles

**The Legend of Smiling Jack**

**Chapter: 4**

**Sword of Damocles**

* * *

Time for some more fun with the darker side of things.

* * *

Lina sighed as she walked down the halls of the high school. Classes had just let out for the day but the teachers had been called to a special meeting by the principal. After another five minutes Lina made it to the library were the meeting was being held. Lina made her way to the back of the library where an extra class room was attached. The room was normally used for language classes but also as the meeting room for the school staff. Lina walked in to be greeted by the normal crew of people in Gourry and Sylphiel. Lina smiled as she sat down with her two main friends before asking, "So what is this about?"

Sylphiel looked around before saying, "I think it is about the Halloween dance...and him..."

Lina's eyes widened before a voice came from behind, "Still believing in that superstitious crap?"

Lina turned to see Martina standing behind them with a smile on her face. Lina glared at the other teacher before saying, "Believe what you want. My interest is because this event has shaped a decent bit of the town's recent history."

Martina turned her nose up before going to a seat and waiting. After a few more moments the principal entered the room and shut the door before saying, "Okay people...we have a few things to go over before we go home."

All of the teachers turned and watched as the principal got to the front and began, "First, let me say that this is a busy time of year for us and I want thank everyone for their hard work. Next, I need volunteers to chaperone the Halloween dance."

Lina raised her hand since she truly enjoyed the unofficial holiday and liked the idea of being a part of the dance. "Good, Miss Inverse...now I need two more," the principal continued as he looked for more help.

Sylphiel and Martina both raised their hands at the same time, "Then we have it Lina, Sylphiel, and Martina will be our chaperones."

Lina and Martina glared at each other before the principle began again, "Also, with Halloween comes the usual pranksters. As first reported by Miss Inverse we have someone in the student body that is trying to stir up problems by trying to dig up the story of Smiling Jack. Now, I know that some of you lived through that piece of tragic history of our town. But, we can't let some prankster thrive off of the fear. If people start bringing up the story just ignore it a move on. We just need to bury this thing now."

Lina listened but knew it was going to be harder to bury his story than the principal thought. 'It's almost like someone wants the fear to come back for some reason. Like the person doing this is wanting the town to draw back under that sway of fear.'

* * *

He smiled as he looked at the town. It had been about a month since the story of Smiling Jack had resurfaced in the city of Atlas. The event was one that held the town in fear in the past and now that fear was returning as the story was being retold. The fear was thick in the air and hung around like a sword hanging above the town just waiting to drop. 'Things were done wrong in the past,' he thought before continuing, 'The wrongs will be righted this Halloween.'

He walked through his home until he came to the study. He pulled on a book entitled, 'Frankenstein,' to have a secret door open in the wall. He walked into the passage before the door closed behind him. He walked down the passageway before going down a flight of stairs to end up in a small room. In the room was what looked like a chemistry set with tons of chemicals and glassware. In the middle was a covered form on a table. The form looked to be that of a human body that was not moving. And, on the far wall was a bookcase full of older looking books of different languages. He walked to the form on the table before placing a hand on it. 'I've done most of the work now I just have to finish,' he thought before moving to a desk.

He sat down at the desk and opened an ouija board box. He pulled the board out and flipped it over to the underside. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and some glue from the desk. He then preceded to glue the page of paper onto the back of the board. He left the board out as he stood and walked over to the chemicals. He then turned to a refrigerated cabinet and opened it to see a few vials inside. He pulled a small vial out that was full of a blood red liquid. He walked back over to the desk and sat back down. He pulled the cork from the vial before reaching for a paint brush. He dipped the paint brush into the liquid before bringing it to the paper. He quickly drew a circle in the red liquid before dipping the brush back into the vial. He then drew a star to finish the pentagram he had been working on before adding the final touches in the form of sigils on the edges. He smiled before saying, "Soon everything will come full circle and all mistakes will be repaid." 

He placed the board back in the box and then began to walk back up the stairs as he went to put the box back in it's place. 'Now for Halloween to work its magic,' he thought as he stepped back into the house and closed the secret door behind him. 

* * *

Lina had made it home after the meeting as the sun was going down. She sighed as she walked to the kitchen. 'This is just getting worse. The more everyone talks about Smiling Jack the more they worry about him,' Lina thought as she began to cook her dinner.

Lina continued to cook as she thought about the problem. It felt to her that these sequence of events were not a random series of happenings. Someone was out there propagating the story of Smiling Jack and using that fear for some other purpose. 'But, what purpose could that serve,' Lina asked as she moved to the dinner table with her food. 

As Lina ate she thought about why someone would want to continue the story of Smiling Jack when it hit her. Lina stopped mid bite as she realized, 'If Zelgadis was not Smiling Jack then the killer got away with the crime...and is still out there.' 

Lina stood from the table and walked towards the door. She grabbed her coat and walked out the door while wrapping it around her frame while thinking, 'I have to find the answer before it is too late.' 

* * *

It had been two hours and Lina was still in the hall of records looking over old newspaper from the time of Smiling Jack. The first bits she had found were pictures of Zelgadis being arrested and she could not help for the man. He looked to be in quite a lot of pain as the police pulled him out into the morning light. 'For a person with his condition that had to be painful,' Lina thought as empathy ran through her mind.

She continued to sort through the old newspapers to try and find any clue as to anyone that might profit from the resurgence of the story of Smiling Jack. As she was searching she came across a story about the notes left by the killer. Lina read the headline, "Smiling Jack taunts police once again. Police hands are tied as new note does not match."

Lina raised an eyebrow as she read on. It seemed that the hand writing was different between each note. There was no way that police could match the hand writing to anyone because the style of writing kept changing in the notes. 'Then how did they come to the idea that Zelgadis was Smiling Jack? If they couldn't finger him on the notes then what proof did they have,' Lina thought as she continued to sift through the papers.

"I will find out what happened," Lina said to herself as she continued to search on into the night.

* * *

Lina finally got home after midnight. She drug herself to her bedroom and flopped down on the bed. She kicked off her shoes before crawling under the covers. She looked at the picture before saying, "They found some of your hair at the scene of a body. That would be enough to arrest you but is that enough to convict especially with the changing in handwriting?"

"You still haven't cleared you name...but you've let me know that something is not right in this city," Lina finished before rolling over and falling into a deep sleep.

The moon was in the sky and was almost full. Its light shown into the window and glistened off the picture frame. As the light left the window the eyes of Zelgadis Greywords glowed red for a full minute before the picture went back to normal.

* * *

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from **The Slayers** do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

Feedback is requested, please send all comments to size=1 width='100%' noshade> 


	5. Blood Red Night

**The Legend of Smiling Jack**

**Chapter: 5**

**Blood Red Night**

* * *

Next chapter up.

A/N: I can't help it but I have to pay tribute to a certain musical. Can you guess?

* * *

Lina sat in front of her vanity as she prepare her final bits of her costume for the Halloween dance. She applied a bit more white powder to her face to finish the pale look before standing and looking herself over in the mirror. She was dressed in a black, and somewhat dirty but elegant, victorian dress. It was complete with a corset and embroidery around the shoulders. She had pulled her hair back into two wild looking pig tails and used her curling iron to make all of it look as if it had a natural curl to it. She smiled at herself as she looked much like one of her favorite characters from a popular musical. She quickly grabbed her camera and set it to take a picture before setting it on her dresser. "I can't go without a picture of this," she exclaimed before posing.

The flash of the camera went off and Lina quickly grabbed the camera before pressing the button to review her pictures. The newest picture popped up and Lina smiled that she had not blinked during the shot. As she was about to exit from the menu Lina heard the grandfather clock chime the hour. Lina looked down at her watch to see that it was time to leave. She quickly walked down the stairs before setting the camera down on her coffee table before walking out the door and locking it behind her.

* * *

The sun was lowering in the sky as four figures moved towards the old house at the top of the hill. As they hid in the bushes the leader of the group stood up and looked into a window to see if the owner was home. "Hey, Zarius is this a good idea," asked a chubbier boy as he looked around to see if they had been spotted.

Zarius looked down at the boy before saying, "Do you have a better idea. We could go to the boring dance and hang out with all of the fops or we can have some actual Halloween fun."

"Yes, but someone actually lives her," commented a young girl with short brown hair dressed in a t-shirt, combat fatigues and boots, "I wouldn't have a problem if it were some old abandon house but a teacher actually lives here."

Zarius smirked as he opened the window and jumped into the house. He poked his head back out before saying, "Oh, quite your whining. Lina is gone for the night at that stupid dance and no one else will come near this house."

Slowly the others agreed and jumped into the window before it was shut behind the last. They all made their way into the middle of the home before they stopped. "Okay, lets move the coffee table out of the way and we can begin," Zarius commented as the all began to move things out of the way.

After the group finished moving Lina's furniture around to make room Zarius produced an ouija box and opened it. He pulled the board out before setting it in the middle of the floor. After everything was ready the group of four gathered around the board and placed a hand on the guide. "We call out to the spirit of this house," Zarius began, "Were you involved in the case of Smiling Jack?"

The group waited as they kept their hands on the guide. The minutes ticked by on the grandfather clock as they waited for the guide to move. After about five minutes of no activity the group pulled back from the board. The brown haired girl smirked before saying, "I told you that nothing was going to happen."

Zarius was about to comment when the guide slid under its own power to the corner and answered, "Yes."

The group jumped back as they knew none of them could have moved the guide to the corner. They slowly moved back towards the board while Zarius asked, "Are you Smiling Jack?"

They watched as the guide moved to the middle before before moving straight up and in-between the Yes and No markings. They looked at each other before the girl asked, "Will Smiling Jack be coming back?"

The guide jerked before moving and the group spelled out as it moved, "S...O...O...N."

The group jumped back as the board flipped. On the back side was a piece of paper that had a pentagram drawn over it in blood. The pentagram began to glow before there was a great flash of light. When the light left in the middle of the room, on top of the ouija board, stood a pale man dressed in a white button up shirt, black slacks and a black vest. The group, which had scattered to different parts of the room, stared in amazement as the man held out his hand and looked at it as if he could not believe it existed. "Who...who are you," the girl asked as she stood.

The man turned and looked at her before smiling and saying, "Jack's back," and cackling out loud.

The group all bolted as each made their own exits through windows or doors that they could find. The man smiled as he walked towards the stairs leading to the wine cellar. As he passed a window he stopped and looked out onto the city. He also saw his reflection in the window. He looked the same as he normally did. His sapphire eyes shone in the dim light as his pale skin seemed to glow. His blue hair came out in wings before s lock fell down in front of his right eye. He looked at the city before turning and heading towards the cellar as he let a small rhythm come from his mouth, "There's a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it and it goes by the name of Atlas."

He went down the stairs and opened the door to the wine cellar. He turned to the left, the opposite of where Lina had found his secret, and pulled on a very old bottle of white wine. The wall push in before swinging open. He walked down the hidden hall until he came to a small room. He walked into the room to be greeted by the few things he had stored away. The first was a cape and top hat that he had worn during the winter. The next was a small box. Zelgadis opened the box to be greeted with a set of straight razors. He smiled as he pulled the two razors out and flipped them up to inspect the blades. He ran his finger down the blade and received a cut. Zelgadis pulled his finger back and watched as there was no blood and the cut he had just received began to knit back together in front of his eyes. "I guess I'm not completely alive...but it will do," Zelgadis replied before putting the razors down.

Zelgadis pulled the cape down and dusted it off before wrapping the cape around his shoulders. The top hat was next as he placed it on his head. After finishing with dressing himself Zelgadis walked over and picked up the razors while saying, "Come my friends. Time for some good, old-fashion, bloody revenge."

Zelgadis walked back into the living room and headed towards the door. As he was making his way out he bumped the coffee table with the door. As he was about to shut the door he heard an electronic beep. His curiosity was peaked and he looked back into the room. There on the table was a camera. Zelgadis picked the camera up to see a picture of a young woman with bright red hair and red eyes. She was smiling and seemed full of life. Zelgadis smirked slightly before saying, "I'm sorry my dear but I'm going to have to steal that smile form you."

He walked out the door before heading down the street towards the high school. "I don't think anyone could keep that smile if they are one of the few innocent ones to survive this," Zelgadis said to himself as he rubbed one of the razors with his thumb.

* * *

Lina stood on one side of the gym as she watched over the Halloween dance. A lot of the students were in attendance and where dancing in their costumes as a dj played music over his system towards the back of the gym. Lina watched as the lights of the dj booth came on and off in time with the music and the mass of students dancing to the different music that blast from the speakers. Every once in a while the dj would talk to the crowd through a headset microphone and the dance continued to go on non-stop. Lina smiled as she could not help but think, 'Oh, to be young,' she thought.

Lina shook off the thought before heading to the area where the punch and snacks were kept. Lina got herself a cup of punch and drank a little before looking around. After making sure no one was looking Lina quickly pulled out a flask from within her bra and spiked her cup of punch with a little something extra. As she was replacing the flask she heard, "Miss Lina," from the side.

Lina looked to see Sylphiel had caught her in the act. "Miss Lina, you shouldn't be drinking while you are here," Sylphiel reprimanded Lina as she stopped in front of her.

Lina smiled before taking a drink of the spiked punch and replied, "Come on Sylphiel you only live once...and besides it's not like I'm going to get plastered or anything."

Sylphiel looked at Lina disapprovingly before sighing and saying, "I guess I won't be able to stop you."

"That's right now let's try to have a good time ourselves while we are here," Lina replied before taking another drink and talking with Sylphiel.

* * *

Rodney the janitor sat in his office as he waited for the dance to be over. He was going to be the one stuck late cleaning up the mess. As he waited he watched television on a small set he had brought. As he was about to nodded off for a bit there came three loud knocks on his door. He sat up quickly and looked at his watch. 'It's way too earlier for the dance to be over,' he thought before saying, "Go back to the dance you damn kids!"

He turned back to the television before three more knocks came on the door. Rodney stood up quickly, he was not in the mood for pranks, and as he made his way towards the door he shouted, "This had better be important."

He flung open the door to be met by a man in a top hat and cap. He was about to say something when the man replied, "Oh, but Rodney it is very important," as he looked up to reveal Zelgadis Greywords.

Rodney jumped back in terror, having been old enough to remember Zelgadis Greywords, before tripping over his chair and crashing to the ground. He pushed back with his feet as he said, "Look, Mister Greywords...I know what was done was wrong but please have mercy."

Zelgadis walked over to Rodney before leaning down and saying, "Yes, mercy," Zelgadis began, "Where was this mercy when you all decided I had to die? Where was mercy when you all hung me in the cemetery?"

Rodney began to blubber as he could see the anger in the dead man's eyes. "You have to understand Mister Greywords...the town heads decided it...we would've been thrown in jail if we had tried to stop it."

Zelgadis flicked out one of his razors before saying, "Not good enough Rodney," and moving the blade towards the man.

"I have a family," Rodney shouted.

"I might have cared about that if I was still human," Zelgadis replied before slicing the janitor throat.

The cut was deep and jagged as blood sprayed out in all directions. Zelgadis leaned down and grabbed the janitor's keys before turning and saying, "See you in Hell Rodney."

* * *

Lina and Sylphiel had been keeping together for a good hour. Lina would take another drink from the flask now and then and Sylphiel would get on to her about the effects of drinking too much. Lina laughed before she heard the music cut. She looked up to see the dj booth's lights had all cut on thus illuminating the booth and the dj was frantically trying to get the music playing. The students waited, some of them decided to give the man a hard time and booed, but most just waited for the music. It was at this time that a man dressed in a somewhat dated outfit walked into the booth. The dj talked at the guy, but no noise came from the speakers, thus nothing was heard. It was at this moment that Lina went white. The man that had appeared was none other than Zelgadis Greywords. Lina turned to Sylphiel and said, "Start getting the students out of here."

"Why," Sylphiel asked.

"That's Zelgadis Greywords," but when Sylphiel did not respond Lina continued, "Smiling Jack."

Sylphiel went white and ran towards the students as Lina made a bee line for the booth. As Lina was fighting her way through the mob of students the speakers came back to life and everyone heard, "Alright we got the speakers back up. I want to thank this man...hey what's your name buddy?"

The dapper, if not dated figure smiled before saying, "They call me Jack," the next thing anyone knew the man swung and cut the dj's throat open.

As the dj bleed and the students at the front screamed the man leaned to a second microphone and said, "They call me Smiling Jack."

The whole mob of students screamed as they bolted for each of the many doors of the gym. As the mobs hit the doors they bounced back and found in horror that each door had been chained and pad locked. "There's no way out," Jack spoke as he got people's attention, "Now face death like men."

Zelgadis jumped over the booth and began to walk forward to be met with a woman dressed like Mrs. Lovett from Sweeny Todd. He recognized the woman from the camera and lowered his blade. She stood in front of him and said, "Zelgadis stop."

He smiled as she said his name. It had been a while since he had heard it and it felt good that someone knew it. "Plead a case all you won't...I'm not going to stop," Zelgadis replied as he moved to walk by her.

Lina lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him from behind before saying, "If you do this...you are no better than them."

Zelgadis stopped for a moment as her warm body pressed up against his cold one. It was an odd sensation and he took it in for a moment before turning and saying, "If you can't tell I'm not human anymore...so this whole idea of being a better human being is for the birds," before shoving Lina off.

Lina landed on her rear hard as Zelgadis moved forward and pulled out a second razor. He got to the first bit of student and dodged their attempt at attacking him. He then returned with catching one boy across the chest and one in the neck. Lina picked herself up and ran as she went to try and stop him. As she got close she was hit with blood spray from one of his victims. As the blood covered her she wrapped around him again, this time pinning his arms to his sides, "Please...stop...don't punish the children for something their parents did," she pleaded with the man.

Zelgadis turned and looked at her before saying, "Oh, it's not only the children. The parents will pay as well but they are a bit more scattered."

As Zelgadis looked at Lina there was a few loud snaps as the doors to the front of the gym flew open. Students poured out of the doors and ran from the man as the few police officers that worked in Atlas came in. Each stopped in there tracks when the man in front of them stared them down. They knew that cold stare of the man that had been executed thirty years ago. "My god," cried the old sheriff, "It's the ghost of Mister Greywords."

Zelgadis smirked before saying, "Glad you remember me sheriff...now you have a reason to kill me. Two children and Rodney are dead but that's just the start."

The cops drew on Zelgadis before saying, "It ends here."

Zelgadis quickly threw Lina to the ground before the bullets flew. She covered her head as she wanted to scream. After the gunfire had stopped she looked up to gasp in horror. There stood Zelgadis, full of bullet holes, but they were healing right in front of her eyes. 'He's unstoppable,' she thought as she sat up.

"My turn," Zelgadis replied as he ran towards the cops as they tried to reload.

He got the first cop and slit his throat before spinning and stabbing the cop next to the first. More bullets came his way but did not stop him. He marched forward and took out two more cops. The rest finally got the message and took off running. As Zelgadis began to make chase he was grabbed again. He looked down to see the same glove covered arms around him. He turned his head to see Lina on the verge of breakdown before she said, "Please...stop."

His fist tightened around his razors before flinging Lina in front of him. He kneeled down and placed a razor on her throat before saying, "Either stay out of my way or I will kill you as well."

Lina bared her neck and stared the man down before saying, "Then do it...I'm not going to stop until I'm dead or you stop."

Zelgadis was about to cut her when a shot rang out. Lina watched as a piece of his shoulder shot out and Zelgadis covered it as a look of pain came over his face. She looked behind him to see Xellos standing there. "Now, now Zel. I brought you back to repay you not to have you run amuck in the town."

"You did this," Lina shouted as she looked at Xellos.

Xellos nodded but was cut off by Zelgadis, "It all makes sense now," Zelgadis stood before turning and continuing, "You are repaying me because I died in your stead...Smiling Jack!"

Lina's eyes grew wide as she looked at Xellos. The man just smiled before saying, "I told you he was smart. But, your right Zel I am the true Smiling Jack. I don't see how they thought it was you...you hardly ever smiled."

"But...But, why," Lina asked.

Xellos reached into his pocket and threw a envelope at Lina. She opened it and read the old newspaper clips, "Metallium girl killed in hit and run."

Lina looked up at him in shock before Zelgadis replied, "Yes, I stumbled onto that the day before I was hung. I had wondered what the motive was behind Smiling Jack and I found it. Xellos, you blamed the town for not bringing the rich kids to justice. So, you decided to take revenge. You honed your skills on the middle class, which you knew the rich would not care, and then you killed the one responsible."

"Good, Zelgadis," Xellos responded, "Yes, I wanted revenge and I took it...It was not my intention that you suffered for my actions."

Lina looked before saying, "But, you didn't stop them either...you just let them kill Zelgadis and now you've unleashed a demon."

Xellos sighed before saying, "I realize that now. I thought I could bring you back and give you a new life Zelgadis...but it seems you have no intention of playing well with others," before leveling the gun at Zelgadis' heart.

Xellos pulled the trigger and the bullet flew out before it was intercepted by Lina jumping in the way. The bullet hit her in the chest as she crashed to the ground. Zelgadis ran to her and cradled Lina while asking, "Why...why would you do that?"

Lina looked at him as her eyes grew heavy, "Because...there's still a chance to redeem yourself."

There was a thud from the other side of the gym. Zelgadis looked up to see Xellos had collapsed to his knees. He looked at him before saying, "I could only make so many of these bullets. They can hurt revenants like you...but I only made three."

"Why three," Zelgadis asked.

"One to get your attention, one to kill you with if you came back like you did, and one," Xellos started as he pulled the gun under his chin and said, "for me."

Zelgadis watched as Xellos pulled the trigger and blew his brains out. He shook his head before looking down at Lina to see she had turned white. "Redeem myself you say," he said as he pressed a hand to her chest and thought, 'I hope this works.'

* * *

A/N: I know you all hate me for this but...Cliffhanger!

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from **The Slayers** do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

Feedback is requested, please send all comments to

* * *


	6. The End of Legends

**The Legend of Smiling Jack**

**Chapter: 6**

**The End of Legends**

* * *

Time to have start tying things together.

* * *

Lina shot up as she cried out, "Zelgadis!"

As Lina came too she found herself in a hospital bed with a green plastic gown around her body. She felt something move beside her and she looked to her left to see Sylphiel waking up from sleeping in the chair next to her bed. The purple haired teacher opened her eyes to see that Lina was wide awake and looking at her. She moved quickly and hugged her friend before sobbing out, "OH...Miss...miss...Lina thank god your okay."

Lina wrapped her arms around Sylphiel's quivering body and tried to soothe the pain away. She looked around before asking, "Sylphiel what happened to Xellos and Zelgadis?"

Sylphiel looked at Lina as two tears ran from her eyes. She sobbed again before replying, "Mr. Xellos was found dead in the gym...and...that...that murderer...Zelgadis as you call him...disappeared and cannot be found."

Lina stroked Sylphiel's hair as she said, "It's okay...I don't think we will have to worry about him anymore."

"How can you be sure," Sylphiel asked as she cringed from thinking about the man that had brought pain to the town.

"I just have a feeling," Lina said as she looked out the window and into the morning sky.

* * *

The day had passed and Sylphiel had finally gone home to give Lina time to rest. Lina laid back and closed her eyes as she felt so tired. Her body had recovered quickly from the injury but she felt like she had no energy left. She closed her eyes and started to drift off when she heard a whisper, "Lina..."

She shot up in her bed as she looked around. No one was there, it was just her in her room, but she could have sworn that she had just heard her name. As she lowered herself back down onto her pillow she talked to herself, "There's nothing her...I'm just worn out from yesterday and hearing things."

Lina laid down again and began to get comfortable. As her eyes closed she heard the whisper again, "Lina..."

Lina looked around with out moving but still no one was there. She sat up and looked around while asking, "Who's there?"

There was no answer. Lina slipped out of her bed and moved to her window. She looked outside but saw no one out in the courtyard of the hospital. She sighed in relief before from behind she heard, "Lina.."

She spun to see nothing but her shadow. As she watched her shadow grew and changed until it resembled Zelgadis. The shadow stood there for a minute before tipping its hat and disappearing. Lina's eyes went wide as fear took hold of her. He was here. She quickly disconnected herself from the iv they had her on, which set off the nurses alarm, and she took off running down the hall. As Lina was about to make it to the nurses station she was stopped by an orderly as he asked, "Miss Inverse were are you going?"

"He's here, He's here...you have to get the others out," Lina yelled as she tried to start running again.

The orderly grabbed her and said, "Miss Inverse...you've had a bad few days and you are hallucinating. Just go back to your room and relax."

Lina beat and kicked against the orderly as she screamed, "I'm not hallucinating...He's here! He's going to kill all of you!"

A few more staff ran into the hall brought there by the commotion Lina was causing. Another orderly grabbed Lina's feet as the first one grabbed her arms. They began to slowly carry Lina as she kicked and screamed, "You have to listen to me! I'm not crazy he's here!"

The orderlies got Lina back to her room as a doctor came in with a syringe full of something. "Now, Miss Inverse we understand what you have been through but you have to relax," the doctor commanded as he came closer with the syringe.

"No," Lina screamed as she let froth one last burst.

Her kick caught one of the orderlies in the face and caused him to collapse and release her legs. Once Lina's feet hit the ground she threw the other man over her shoulders. She went to run but the doctor caught her wrist. As she fought with the doctor the two men were getting up and heading towards her. Lina quickly punched the doctor in the stomach and used the opportunity to take him hostage. Lina grabbed the syringe and held it to the doctor's neck before shouting, "Okay stop right there!"

The two men backed off as Lina posed a real threat to the doctor's life if she punctured the wrong spot. She began to back up with the doctor to make her way out. As she was about to exit the room she looked to the side at the mirror to see the most frightening thing she could imagine. Her eyes changed from red to sapphire blue as she looked at herself. To panicked to reason Lina dropped the doctor and took off at full stride for the door. One of the men chased after Lina as she sprinted down the hall and out the main door of the hospital. He continued to give chase into the parking lot but could not keep up with the young woman that ran like her life depended on it, "Damnit," was all he could say as he had to stop to catch his breath and watch Lina run off into the night.

* * *

Lina ran, not paying attention to where she was going, until her legs gave out and she collapsed on the ground. Luckily, she landed on grass and she laid there as she caught her breath. After a few moments Lina looked up to see a lake right next to her. She savagely clawed her way to the lake before looking into the water. She saw her reflection and those same blue eyes stared back at her from within herself. She quickly and frantically pushed away from the lake. As she backed away she lost her footing and fell. She hit her head on something hard and blacked out for a brief moment. After coming to, Lina grabbed her head and moaned as she wished she had some aspirin. After a few minutes she looked up to see what she had knocked her head on. She saw an old tombstone and quickly backed away. Lina looked around to see she was surrounded by the marble monoliths and had somehow wandered into the cemetery. "This night just gets better," Lina complained as the fear was starting to seep away.

As Lina picked herself up and started to walk away she heard something coming from within the grounds. "I know I'm going to regret this," Lina said as she headed towards the sound.

As she got closer Lina could make out the lyrics of a very morbid song, "If you see me better flee me, If you hear me better fear me. Na Na Na Na, Call me Mister Killjoy. I'm the death of every party. Na Na Na Na, Call me Mister Killjoy. And, I don't care if you don't like me."

Soon Lina came to where she could see who was signing. There, sitting on a tombstone, in the middle of the graveyard was Zelgadis Greywords. She walked in front of him and huffed to get his attention. He looked at her before saying, "Appears you got away."

"No thanks to you," Lina looked at him with anger in her eyes.

As Lina was about to tear into the man he reached out and grabbed her chin. Lina stared him down while he said, "Hmmm, blue eyes somehow suit you."

Lina pulled away from him and asked, "What the hell did you do to me?"

Zelgadis smirked before saying, "I gave you life...if I hadn't done what I did you would've died."

Lina grew quiet at the idea of she was that close to death. "That...that still doesn't explain my eyes," she said as she looked down and shuffled her feet.

"Well, that was an unforeseen side effect," Zelgadis replied before continuing, "I gave you some of my essence to keep you from dying...well apparently I don't know as much as I thought. Instead of just sustaining you and allowing me to leave it has bound us."

"What do you mean," Lina asked as she looked up at Zelgadis.

"Just what I said. You are now my link to this world. Thus, why your shadow changed into me. I was mainly answering your question of where I went but instead I got a little show," Zelgadis replied as he smirked.

Lina slapped him in the face before saying, "Listen, just because you saved my life doesn't give you free reign to terrorize me and cause me to harm people out of panic."

Zelgadis recovered before saying, "This is much more refreshing than that spare their lives crap."

"You are a monster aren't you," Lina shot back.

"I'm dead...it's not like it matters anymore," Zelgadis replied as he began to walk away.

"Wait a minute," Lina yelled as she walked after him, "If we are bound together then do I have to stay near you or something?"

Zelgadis turned and grabbed Lina hand before placing it over her heart. Lina was about to ask what was the point when she felt it. After her heart beat there was a slight skip or even another beat. She looked at Zel before he replied, "I'm a part of you. I'm going to be there no matter where you go. Just think of me and I will manifest...if I don't want to myself that is."

Zelgadis let go of Lina before turning and walking away. As he was walking he heard Lina ask, "Why did you safe me?"

He continued without looking back while saying, "Because I had no intention of killing you...you were innocent."

Lina gasped as she watched Zelgadis disappear. She walked towards the entrance of the graveyard while thinking, 'So there is some humanity left in you.'

* * *

Lina had made it back to her house without any problems. She knew that the police were more than likely hunting for her but she had no intention of stick around. 'If I stay then Zelgadis might try to kill more of the townsfolk...I have to leave.'

Lina quickly packed up what she needed before throwing it into her car. She then changed out of the gown and into a set of normal clothes. She then hoped into her car and drove to he bank. She drove to the ATM and withdrawing all of her savings. After, that she went to the gas station and filled up a container with five gallons of gas. She drove back to the house about went upstairs with the gas. She began to pour the gas out as she went downstairs and towards the door. After finishing Lina lit a match and said, "Time to end the terror," before tossing the match into the gas.

Lina walked out of the house as it caught fire. She got into her care and took off into the night. "I see your still being noble," came Zelgadis' voice as he appeared in the passenger's seat.

Lina looked at him to see he was just in his white shirt and black slacks. "Not, going for the full Jack the Ripper look I see."

Zelgadis shrugged before asking, "So what are you going to do now?"

Lina sighed as she continued to drive out of town and out of another life. "I don't know...but this way you will not be killing anyone else," Lina replied.

"We'll see," Zelgadis replied as they drove off into the night.

* * *

A/N: The End...I'm going to be doing more with this storyline but under a different story.

Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from **The Slayers** do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.

Feedback is requested, please send all comments to

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